ETRMA: Non REACH compliant tyres still entering Europe

On 16 October ETRMA (European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers' Association) announced the results of its second round of tyre testing examining REACH compliance of tyres found within Europe. ETRMA’s results show that roughly 10 per cent of the sample failed to comply with the clean oil legislation, around the same proportion as failed the last set of tests held earlier this year. However while ETRMA raised concerns about both compliance and enforcement of REACH regulations, some of the companies named in the report have already responded to accusations of compliance failure by raising questions of their own about the way in which the sample was selected.

ETRMA’s second testing campaign was carried out between April and September 2011 on a sample of 94 tyres available for sale to EU consumers in several of the largest national tyre markets. These tyres were all produced in late 2010 and 2011 in 50 factories located in 11 countries, and are being sold in the EU under 51 brand names (these include 31 brands not tested in the first round). The first round of tyre compliance tests the ETRMA conducted took place in March 2011 and followed a similar approach.

10 per cent of the 94 tyres sampled this time round were found to be non-compliant, reportedly containing PAH levels prohibited by REACH and therefore, says ETRMA, being sold illegally on the EU market. Some of the non-compliant tyres were made in factories which produced tyres that ETRMA found to be non-compliant in the first round. One factory (which ETRMA named as Shandong Hengfeng Rubber and Plastic Co., located in Guangrao Country, Shandong Province), was shown to have failed to comply in both rounds, with five of its tyres under four different brand names, including both passenger car and truck tyres reportedly exceeding the allowed PAH limit.

Tyres ETRMA found to be non-compliant

Overall, the second test program covered truck, passenger summer and winter, motorcycle and agricultural tyre types. As in the first round of testing, all tyres in the sample group were purchased from stocks at consumer retail outlets in major EU tyre markets (such as Germany, UK and Italy).  Initial testing was carried out by ETRMA members. Any tyres that presented abnormal PAH results were then sent to a certified independent laboratory and tested according to the standard defined in REACH (ISO 21461). Only the names and details of those tyres found to be non-compliant by these independent laboratories have been released by ETRMA and reported here.

“The results as well as the full testing reports have been delivered to EU and national authorities. Another 10 per cent still non-compliant on the market means simply that there are manufacturers and importers who do not care about European legislation”, states Dr Gori, president of ETRMA.

Were the tyres intended for European distribution?

Under the EU’s REACH regulation, high-PAH oils are banned from use in the production of all tyres made for motor vehicles produced after 1 January 2010 for subsequent sale in the EU market. The ETRMA data shows that some non-compliant tyres made it into Europe. However, some of the tyre manufacturers named in the research told Tyres & Accessories that the non-compliant tyres are only intended for sale outside Europe and therefore must have been imported via parallel markets. This in turn begs the question, should the manufacturers or the distributors be held responsible in these cases?

Nevertheless while at least three of the named manufacturers have taken this line, ETRMA specifically highlighted that all the Shandong Hengfeng Rubber and Plastic Co. tyres failed to comply. In response representatives of Telford-based Treadsetters, which owns the Torque private brand that ETRMA referred to in its latest survey reported their surprise at the findings and sent Tyres & Accessories an SGS test certificate demonstrating that its Torque tyres are PAH oil free.

In answer to T&A’s questions, Treadsetters explained that the Torque brand is designed specifically to comply with REACH procedures: “[The] tyres purchased are supported by assurances from the manufacturers that they are compliant. The apparent non-compliance of a Torque tyre presents us with a predicament for which we are seeking clarification from the manufacturer…the Torque brand is fundamental to our future plans and we will not compromise on its quality. We will ensure that the product conforms/exceeds all current quality standards and there will not be different specifications for different markets,” Treadsetters director Trefor Jones told T&A.

For its part Cooper offered this comment on the fact that two of its Austone and Chengshan branded truck tyre products (both produced at the company’s Cooper Chengshan plant in China) were found to contain PAH oils: “Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Europe Ltd., is part of the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company family of companies. Cooper Tire is a global tyre company whose subsidiaries and joint ventures manufacture products for markets that have a variety of requirements and regulations. Products are produced and distributed in accordance with the applicable regulations. While these specific tyres were produced by the joint venture company Cooper Chengshan Tire, they were not distributed by Cooper Europe nor intended for sale in European markets.”

LL Tyres Europe commented on the placement on the list of Linglong-branded tyres: “In response to the ETRMA recent testing LL Tyres Europe Ltd would like to state that all tyres produced and intended to be distributed and sold in the EU are fully tested and procedures are in place to ensure that they are compliant with all EU legislations (including REACH) since October 2010. LL Tyres Europe Ltd is not responsible for the illegal import of its products to the European market and strongly questions the methods that ETRMA may have used to gather its information. In addition LL Tyres Europe Limited challenges the legitimacy of these results, as some of the ETRMA member tyres appeared to have failed with the European legislation based on the results published.”

Meanwhile, another brand produced by Shandong Linglong expressed its satisfaction that its tyres passed the parameters laid out by the legislation in ETRMA testing: “Infinity Ltd is delighted that ETRMA have acknowledged that Infinity fully complies with the REACH legislation.”

Shandong Hengfeng Rubber and Plastic Co. was given opportunity to respond publically to the latest ETRMA report, and Tyres & Accessories understands that it is currently preparing an official response. Representatives of most companies involved have spoken unofficially on this subject, but so far Hengfeng (through Treadsetters), Cooper and LL Tyres Europe have gone on the record with their views.

For its part ETRMA secretary general Fazilet Cinaralp added: “ETRMA is concerned that European surveillance efforts have not been sufficient to prevent these tyres from entering the European market and have effectively made it possible for European importers to continue selling illegal tyres.”

She also questioned how effective the forthcoming labelling legislation could be in this context: “This is also likely to compromise the effectiveness of upcoming legislation such as the tyre labelling legislation that will come into effect in 2012. Non-adherence to the tyre labelling legislation could very well result in consumers being misled into buying inferior tyres with inferior performance characteristics.”

Dr Gori concluded: “We…request urgent attention be given to a clear, coherent and coordinated market surveillance program that ensures a level playing field for all tyre producers. Legislation without effective follow-up and enforcement is damaging”.

Related news:

• Westlake responds to ETRMA report with re-tests of its own

• Will European agencies take clean oil enforcement action?

• Chinese manufacturers receive mixed results in Reach compliance test